Poll: Most impactful component

For sure your observation is very right grislybutter...

There is three impactful embeddings controls dimensions : mechanical, ( vibrations/resonance) electrical ( noise floor level ) And acoustical....

These embeddings controls three dimensions are in a way more important than choices between equivalent upgrade if your system is already good to begin with for sure...

None of this works without electricity. The outlet on the wall is my #1 component.

Nothing can replace a room/speakers acoustic optimization, certainly not an upgrade in dac... nowadays, i know it by experience, dac technology is mature...The problem is picking a dac with a good synergetical complementarity with the amplifier and the speakers or headphones...

I spoke about MAJOR improvement with acoustic here not marginal improvement going from one good dac to another good one...

The equivalence between room/speakers is an headphone with a relation between the driver and the shell cup well designed....

Most headphones are not acoustically well designed, at least the 9 headphones which are all under my bed nowi owned...

The tenth was a marvel but very hard to optimize it takes me 6 months of listening experiments and modifications around it or inside it and it was necessary to figure out how to listen to them, because we must learn how to listen to speakers or headphone if we want to optimize them acoustically... Akg K340 hybrid is my ONLY choice now... Upgrading is unnecessary for me...

Thank you @jjss49 !

I have gotten better results focusing on the room, setup, and speakers individually.

At least, I think I have...;)

i like your list and sequence @tomcarr 👍

my only comment is that 1, 2 and 3 are usually a simultaneous solve...

1. Room

2. Setup

3. Speakers

4. Source

5. Amp

6. Preamp

7. Cables

I bought the speakers I've used for the past 17 years based on a forum member's recommendation. In the meantime, I've moved from a CDP to separate DAC + transport, upgraded all cabling and upgraded integrateds three times. I haven't  felt a need to upgrade speakers, so I guess I just lucked out. 

If I had the extra cash, I might upgrade them to the current version but not before upgrading my DAC. 

Another vote for speaker/room.

The final Transducer (speaker/room) by a country mile, followed by the amplifier.  

I sit on sofa directed at my system. An upgrade to an arm chair would be nice. 

For me, it has been my Klipsch Lascalas. I did work on getting rid of the nasties inherent in the design, with great success, and they do everything I want them to do, connecting me with the musicianship / performance, of EVERY recording I listen to.

I have the Audio Mirror R2R Tubed Ladder DAC.....$3500. Absolutely the most Musical DAC  I've heard. 

@tee_dee I have a Denafrips Pontus II which is an R2R ladder DAC. Yes different types of DAC technologies and chips do matter and affect the sound.

For my system it’s a quality standalone DAC that had the biggest impact. My listening consists of 75% CDs and 25% streaming.

@mksun 

DAC with LPS? Type of DAC technology or DAC chip?

Do these factors matter? 🤔

Speakers are the most critical component.  

For my system it’s a quality standalone DAC that had the biggest impact. My listening consists of 75% CDs and 25% streaming.

Leaving the source out..... speakers, preamplifier,  amplifier,  cables. In that order

Speakers then DAC if streaming

Turntable

BigKidz - that is great insight built on years of your valuable experience.  I have been really fortunate to have the opportunity to have auditioned and owned some great gear and what what you have shared as your experience is very similar to mine.  I have a much, much, much smaller sampling size I’m sure.  I stream 99 % of the time for my 2 channel listening and if the source isn’t right, you won’t be able to tweak or fix with gear after the source.  Get the source and speakers right, after that, the amplifier, the Pre can elevate the system. The Pre can be that last piece that wows you but you’ll never get to that moment if everything else isn’t in place.  A bad, noisy Pre can really bring down your system or lack of synergy between your gear, I’ve had great Pre’s and Amps that aren’t great fits together so matching gear properly is important as well.  Insight provided by seasoned audiophiles stating everything matters is so true, paying attention to power, good quality interconnects / speaker wire (they don’t need to be expensive), the often neglected room acoustics and or speaker placement are all pieces to the puzzle.  Great insight, thanks for sharing. 

Do integrateds, kind of an all in one, have their role?

someone mentioned room which may dictate your choice of speakers. But controlling for room, speakers and their placement appear to be most important.

Yes I think recently some guy dive into it with reviews and comparing to a lot of different speakers it’s interesting to read

https://silverfacestereo.com/2015/05/13/epic-klipsch-cf-4/

True. It's funny, after all of the thought and research that I did for other speakers that I bought, I bought these on a lark because I read a single customer review, and a short time later I found a pair of Version 1's for sale and bought them on a lark because I had 1k sitting around that wasn't spoken for. It is truly the best money I ever spent on audio.

@roxy54 

Im glad few people know how good they are if not we can’t afford them lol 😂 

@lordrootman 

I'm with you on the speakers. There's a current thread asking if there are any really good speakers for $10k. I read that and felt like I was in another world, because after I spent a fortune on a 19 other speakers, I discovered the Epic CF4 version 1, and they were the best I have ever owned.

To me it’s speakers ( EPIC CF4 VI) way better than any speakers ever in my room it’s not about the price but the dynamics clarity and bass response room will be second and Preamp Third 

1. Room

2. Speaker position

3. Everything else

Generally speaking I think it`s the preamp, and/or a DAC.

which component has the most potential to improve a stereo system?

I think it depends on system deficiencies.

I have B&W 804`s teamed up with an Acurus A-150 power amp. (a BIG no-no!).

 In order to rectify the harshness in the upper frequincies, I inserted a tubed preamp into the system. I `ve taken a sows ear and made it into a silk purse.

For varying reasons,  I toggle back and forth between a PrimaLuna integrated and Pass amp/Cary preamp combo.  I also recently upgraded from a NODE/Qutest (w/ SBoosters) combo to an Innuos Mini/PSAudio combo.  Zu speakers are the constant.  Nordost cables.  Stream exclusively.   No question that the Pass/Cary/Innuos/PSA combo delivers the best listening experience to my ears.  That's not answering your question other than to suggest the obvious that it all matters.  If I had to pick, though, I think the streamer upgrade made the biggest difference in my modest system.

Oh good. It didn't seem like something that you would say, which is why I was surprised. My apologies.

@roxy54 I was kidding!

@noromance 

"As digital sources all sound the same, I can see how folks assume the speakers make the biggest difference."

I'm surprised that you would make such an ignorant comment.

As digital sources all sound the same, I can see how folks assume the speakers make the biggest difference. I maintain that, in a vinyl-based system, the source is most important, with phono, pre, power, speakers in descending order of impact. Of course, any system is only as good as the sum of its parts—the corollary being that a weak component can bring it all down.

Source.  Nothing can fix a bad source.

Speaker...

Speakers determine the character of a system. I think of  them like raising kids. I used to think that I could influence my young kids to act/live like I wanted them to. Now I realize they are who they are and are largely born that way. My mom would say that kids come into this world with their bags packed. I could only influence my kids  5 to 10%. Speakers are the same. They have a built in personality, and I can only move their sound 5 to 10% with system and cable changes. I was on a "more resolution" kick for several decades. That led to speaker choices of B&W 801 matrix, and Wilson Sasha 2s. I spent forever and lots of  $ trying to move their personality to a less harsh more musical sound with components and cables. I then bought Rockport Cygnus Speakers and I love their inherent  sound. Component matching is easy now as I am adding components that complement the speakers sound, not ones that try and muffle or change a sound character I hear as too bright. The lesson I learned is that the speaker is the primary determinate of your system's sound, so I spend as much or more than I should on my speakers.  My caveat is that these impressions are from one set of ears, in my room, with my components, your milage my vary.  

For me the most critical component is myself. Sitting back and just enjoying the music is all that is needed. Second would be the source. Even my old garage system sounds good streaming through my ifi zen blue. Can’t tell if it’s the dac, the implementation output from the zen or the clean streaming content or all the above making a chain. 

There's this guy on youtube who plays in the upper high end of audio equipment. I watch him occasionally and managed to notice the DAC is one component that lasts through his high velocity testing.

If you don't stream I suppose preamps rank supreme. It seems even if one streams digital music, other components matter more?

I told myself that I would not buy anything for system until I get some real speakers in my room. I think I have the answer.

This hobby is very personal. Then why do we rely on equipment reviews and base our buying decisions on other’s opinions? Every system is different. It must take obsessive iterations in YOUR room and YOUR system to answer this question. That’s the lesson I’ve learned so far. Thanks.

^^^^This!^^^

That’s an excellent insight that many take years to realize. Others never do. For some it’s more comforting to rely on someone else’s experience or measurements than to trust their own observations, but that’s usually just a path to something that’s not very personal or particularly satisfying. We are each mostly on our own to figure out our particular puzzle. You nailed it, and will do well sticking with it because YOU are the only one you need to please in this.

As a manufacturer, every time we build a piece that becomes the best component since the last one. I always begin with the source because we start with piano recordings. If the piano is not right, nothing else in the chain matters to us and can alter that sound we love. Once we feel that is correct to our ears, then speakers that can reproduce that sound (most can to different degrees once we have that sound). Amplifiers next and then the preamp. We find that a decent preamp can convey the sound and then better preamps enhance the overall sound.

While cables do make a difference, people are surprised when we show them that we are using Sony interconnects from my old 1970s tape desk. You know the old gray ones with the plastic red and white ends stuck together. Since we move equipment in and out so often, I was tired of using expensive cables so we just settled on the Sony cassette deck interconnects that came in the box. Gotta love the expression on peoples faces then we show them. Go figure.

Also while the room has an impact, out listening room is brick and we use a couple of treatments thrown in there.  Not se-up properly or anything.  To us, the proper placement of the speakers is what makes an impact.  After going to shows and many dealers, we have concluded that most do not know how to properly set-up speakers.  Again our experience.

Having had so many systems in our listening room, that has been our overall experience. Happy Listening.

Most important component? 

The performance.

Everything else is just hardware/software.

I bought BACCH4Mac, which cost about $7500, including a new Mac Mini computer with 16 GB Ram.  That includes a camera for head tracking.  A system without the head tracking is much less expensive.  It eliminates crosstalk between your ears.  The effect is that on well-recorded material, the soundstage is hugely widened and deepened.  For example, on a 1958 Sonny Stitt record of a jazz quartet, in my listening room the sax is in the kitchen and the drums are outside the house!  This is without adding any distortion.

@therandyman 

So the BACCH is a fancy room correction ? What exactly does it do for a price tag of over 50k? 

I would opine that the preamp is the brain of the system.

The synergy of all the gear together and the resultant sound is the soul.

Fuse connecting turntable, anyone?

As many others have said speakers are probably the part that can change the sound the most. Still, an unbalanced system can sound worse than a slightly cheaper but well-balanced system. And changing just one component in a balanced system to another that is much better and maybe much more expensive will make the system unbalanced. 

For example, a system with $100k speakers and a $1k amp might sound a lot worse than a system with $10k speakers and $10k amp.

If you have a well-balanced system and suddenly get a lot of extra budget to improve it it is probably best to replace many parts at once.

If you have not yet experienced it, give BACCH a try.  It will improve any system, no matter the weakest link.  Pretty amazing.  

A well known fact is that your preamp is the most important piece of equip. in your system.Upgrade to an Audio-GD tube pre and listen to how your whole system is upgarded.Speakers next.

@tony1954 ​​​@fertguy ...Me.

Upgrade myself, which I did a few years ago with a good pair of aids. ;)

Made more of an improvement than anything I could buy, or make with my hands,

72, hitting the 73 wall June's rnear end... *sigh*L* 'This of big cities, loud tools 'n mechanisms, loud cars, loud crowds @ louder concerts has, does, and will (if not already) compromised

YOU.'

Cost 'bout that of a goodish DAC.
Think about it...😏

Anyway...

@tee_dee , happy newbie to you. *S*

Reviews, and opinions....Everyone's' got 1, 'member?
.........one gleans out of them what one wants to repro in their own space/place.
One begins; how well and for how long chosen to pursue becomes whatever you allow it to become.

Your results and conditions Will vary.  Or not.  It's been known to have happen to some 'round here.  Others are rife here...*snicker*

It IS a personal hobby.
Dreams, memories, abandoning to all that music of whatever is is you seek.

The means?

What do you seek...pilgrim?  

Enjoy your hunt for whatever you seek in the results.

Jerry